Chapter 9 - Problems faced by the Subcontinent in 1940-1947

Lahore Resolution:

• In %%1940%%, the %%Lahore Resolution%% of Mr. Jinnah was adopted.
• He was the most prominent leader of the ML.
• At first %%Jinnah was not in favour of a separate Muslim homeland%% and believed that Muslims might live comfortably in a federation of India with maximum provincial autonomy.
  • But the %%INC rule of 1937 – 1939 greatly changed his views%% about the future of Indian Muslims.
  • He presided over the historic session of ML on 22nd March 1940 in which %%Maulvi Fazal ul Haq presented a resolution demanding that “Regions in which the Muslims are numerically a majority, as in the NW and Eastern zone of India, should be grouped to constitute independent states in which the constitutional units shall be autonomous and sovereign.”%%
• The resolution was unanimously passed on %%23rd March, 1940.%%
  • This marked the %%start of active struggle for Pakistan%% that was achieved after only seven years.
  • A remarkable feature of Lahore Resolution is that it demanded for both NW and NE Muslim majority provinces whereas Iqbal and Ch Rehmat Ali had focused on NW provinces only.
  • It gave Muslims a visible goal for which they started their struggle under the leadership of Jinnah.

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The Cripps Mission:

• In %%1942%%, the Cripps Mission brought the idea of the “%%Union of India%%” comprising the British Indian provinces and the princely states.

  • In the proposed union, almost all ministers were to be Indians.
  • The plan allowed any province/provinces to opt out of the Union.

• However, Jinnah rejected the plan as he was not satisfied with the “%%opting out clause%%”.

  • The clause did not state the political status of the opting out provinces.

  • Therefore, Jinnah wanted a more clear and specific mention of Pakistan.

• Followed by the Cripps Mission Plan, Jinnah made an important achievement in the %%Gandhi-Jinnah talks of 1944.%%

  • Though the talks failed, Jinnah scored many points.
  • Gandhi had come to Jinnah to hold talks as he had recognized him as major leader.
  • The INC for the first time, negotiated with the ML on an equal footing.
  • Mr. Jinnah stood firm on his stance and did not accept any suggestion of the withdrawal of the demand for Pakistan.
  • Gandhi’s conditional acceptance of Pakistan was the main outcome of these talks.
  • Jinnah rejected Gandhi’s proposal of first launching a joint struggle for independence and later settling the issue of Pakistan.

The Quit India Resolution:

• In %%May 1942%%, Gandhi addressed an INC meeting in Allahabad and sharply criticised the lack of compliance shown by the British during the negotiations of the %%Cripps Mission Plan%%.
  • He urged the INC to start a non-violent protest against the British.
• On %%8th August 1942%%, the Quit India Resolution was passed, calling for the immediate withdrawal of the British from India.
  • This led to widespread riots in several parts of India, and the British retaliated with full force.

The Gandhi Jinnah Talks:

• After Gandhi was released from jail, he wrote to Jinnah to hold talks with him about the future of India.

• Jinnah accepted it and invited Gandhi at his home in Bombay.

• Several rounds of talk hiss were held in June, %%1944%%.

  • The talks showed Gandhi’s acknowledgement of Jinnah as a major leader.
  • He also suggested joint struggle of INC and ML after which the partition of India could be discussed. This shows his %%conditional acceptance of Pakistan.%%

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• However, the talks had %%more failures than successes.%%

  • Gandhi insisted on being treated as an ordinary Indian but this irritated Jinnah’s legal mind as for him Gandhi was only an INC spokesman.
  • Gandhi also rejected the two nation theory by saying that a community couldn’t become a nation just by changing religion.
  • Majority of Indian Muslims were local converts from Hinduism or Sikhism.
  • Jinnah asked for keeping the defence and foreign affairs under the provincial governments in case of a united India.
  • So the talks ended in a deadlock.

The Simla Conference:

• By June %%1945%%, the WWII was nearing end and British were now determined to leave India.
• %%Viceroy Lord Wavell%%, after consulting with the British government, drafted the %%Wavell Plan%%.
• The plan was discussed in the %%Simla Conference in June-July 1945.%%
• The ML delegation included %%Jinnah, Liaquat Ali Khan and Abul Kalam Azad, the INC President.%%
• Lord Wavell unfolded the plan of an %%interim Executive Council (government) comprising equal number of Hindu and Muslim ministers.%%
• %%All parties agreed%% on the idea of the Executive Council, and the independence of India.
• However, %%Gandhi insisted on nominating Hindus as well as some Muslim ministers.%%
  • Inclusion of Azad was aimed at conveying the message that INC too represented Muslims.
  • Jinnah replied that %%ML alone was a party of all Muslims%% as it had been winning almost all by elections for the Muslim seats during the last 3 years.
  • Jinnah also %%objected to equal number of Hindu and Muslim ministers by pointing towards other non-Muslim minorities.%% If those minorities allied themselves with INC, Muslims would remain a minority.
  • The %%session ended without any success%% and Wavell admitted failure of the conference on 14th July, 1945.

The 1945-46 Elections

• The %%Labour Party won a massive and unexpected victory%% in the 1945 General Election.
• It won %%393 seats against the Conservative Party that won only 197 seats.%%
• The %%party was opposed to imperialism%% and eager to promote independence for India following the election.
• Thus the signs for an independent state of some kind looked very positive.
• However, there was a problem, since the new government was pro- Congress and Gandhi, so %%partition was most unlikely%% and instead the favoured route was for a federal India rather than two separate states

The Cabinet Mission Plan:

• In %%March 1946%%, members of the %%British Cabinet Mission arrived in India to work out a plan for achieving independence for India as a federation.%%
  • The Mission met with some %%470 Indian leaders%% but %%Jinnah stuck firm to his stance that partition was the only way forward as far as the Muslims were concerned.%%
• Once the plans for groupings the provinces were known, the ML accepted the plan as long as the groupings were to be compulsory.
  • Congress however refused to accept the groupings and that they would not be bound by any British plan.
• The British government decided to form %%an Interim Government headed by Nehru of Congress.%%
  • Eventually members of the ML joined it too.

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Direct Action Day:

• The %%ML got worried that the British would leave India without organizing a settlement%% and didn’t want Congress to be left in charge of organizing a new country.
  • Thus the %%ML organised a Direct Action Day in the summer of 1946%% in an attempt %%to stop the British government giving in to Congress.%%
  • Rioting on a massive scale took place and thousands died.
• The %%British got increasingly worried that civil war would ensue%% and gradually a %%change of mind grew over partition.%%
  • In %%February 1947 came the announcement by Attlee that the British would leave the sub-continent by 1948%% and the subsequent violence in the Punjab in March 1947 that convinced Nehru that partition should take place quickly.
  • This was formalized in the %%3rd June Plan of 1947%% in which Mountbatten, the new Viceroy brought about partition in August 1947.

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The Radcliffe Award:

• %%Mountbatten appointed a Boundary Commission under Sir Cyril Radcliffe to draw the boundary line between India and Pakistan.%%
• Radcliffe had four assistants, %%two nominated by the ML and two by the INC.%%
• The %%Radcliffe Award was announced on 16th August 1947.%%
• The ML was disappointed as Calcutta in Bengal and the Muslim majority districts of Frozepur and Gurdaspur in Punjab were given to India.
  • %%Gurdaspur%% provided a land route to India to have access to Kashmir.
• %%Jinnah unwillingly accepted the Award.%%

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The Independence Act:

• It was %%passed on 15th August 1947%% and %%stated that from that day India would be partitioned into two Dominion states: India and Pakistan.%%
  • Each state would be totally free to make any laws it wished.
  • The %%1935 Act would serve as the interim constitution%% till both the states had framed their own constitutions.
• %%Pakistan adopted 14th August%% and %%India 15th August as the Independence Day.%%

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